L.A.R.Grizzly Dealer Display

This is a dealer display of the L.A.R. Grizzly line of pistols , the local factory rep here in Anchorage Alaska allowed me to take these photos , they are factory disabled non-firing examples any questions can be e-mailed to me at grizzly45win@yahoo.com .

Grizly for sale!

I have a Grizly for sale on a local auction site.

http://www.qxl.no/accdb/viewitem.asp?AuctionNr=592302600&ComeFromMyPages=1

The gun is priced in local currency, NOK, Norwegian Kroner since I live there.

I'm willing to sell abroad, quite possibly there will be no bids on this aution soince the locals don't know what gem this is.

Give me a hint after Jan 3rd, and we will see.

Grizzly Win Mag - Special Edition?

I own a Grizzly with Gold plated trigger, release, barrel extension, etc...

Is this a special edition and does it have any effect on it's value?

Ralph

Grizzlies and the Blue Book of Gun Values

Some boys I know just purchased the latest edition of S.P.Fjestad's Blue Book of Gun Values , after reviewing the values for the Grizzly line of pistols we are wondering why there so far out of line in relationship to the actual values / prices paid for the pistols now , actually the prices have not changed in 10 years or so , according to this book at least .

Fierce LAR Grizzly 45 Win Mag Muzzle Blast!!

WOW... These Grizzly owners are recoil junkies just like me... I wanna meet these guys! Nice photos... I bet they were really happy at the range that day :)

Cam

Grizzly Pistol Variations

Pictured are a pair of Stainless Steel Grizzly .45 Winchester Magnum Pistols , a letter from the orginal owner , whom had the factory make the short barreled example for him is in the process of being written up . For more info you can e-mail the present owner at ericwieler777@msn.com , also pictured are a pair of Grizzly .45 Win Mag long slides [8"] .

.44 Magnum Grizzly Magazine Variations

The magazine on the left is the best one in all aspects , both magazines feed and lock the slide stop after the last round except the follower [the bottom one] is more percise in that it pushes the slide stop all the way up , the other follower when installed in the magazine is more prone to cant foward because of the slight differance in the diameter of the plastic componet , as it allows more play between it and the and the magazine body . Another difference is the thumb button thats fits the magazine on the left is grooved all the way around the componet as opposed to the other one that is only sloted on each side , the grooved one is so much easier to re-assemble .

New Grizzly Mark IV owner

Just bought a NIB Mark IV from Jim in TX. Always wanted one and finally found a nice one. Wanted a 1911 type gun that has more kick than my Delta Elite.

Mark IV Grizzly .44 Magnum Pistol

The .44 Magnum Mark IV Grizzly magazine in the photo fits and functions properly in the pistol , I purchased two additional magazines and neither fit into the magazine well of this pistol or another one that is owned by a friend of mine .

Custom calibers

I have two .45 mag. and two .50 AE Grizzlies and was wondering if any one knows if the .45 mag. chassis are capable of withstanding the effects of the .475 Wildey, as I would like to modify one.
Bobbby

1994 Grizzly brochure

Hey Gents ,

I just aquired three factory LAR brochures from 1994 . All three are in the factory " crispy condition " ...... among the fliers inside , was a 1994 price list , a " When a Grizzly WinMag roars , everything listens ! " flier that Cam posted a few threads down , and a flier announcing the arrival of the MK V .50AE .

The front cover of the bi-folded brochure is like the one Cam posted a while back , but this one has the added text on the front cover welcoming the MK IV and the MK V .....

Enjoy .....

Grizzly Mark V Grips

Hello fellow Grizzly Fans,

I have a quick question that I hope somebody can help me with. I recently was able to purchase Mark V 50 AE and was wondering if anybody knows where I could get custom grips made for it. I would prefer aluminum or titanium but wood, horn or carbon fiber would be fine. So far, I'm striking out.
If anybody needs custom work done on their Grizzly, Bob Cogan of Accurate Plating & Weapory (http://www.apwcogan.com/) does a fantastic job and is not afraid to work on them. Not too many people will do smithing work on them.
For a great holster system for your Grizzly visit http://www.wwlholsters.com/. They make great rigs to carry the big semi-auto in many different configurations.
Also, can anybody tell me how many, if any, stainless steel Grizzlys were made especially in the Mark V version.

Thanks guys.

sct7853

Plum colored Grizzly frames

Guys ,

A good friend of mine just purchased ( with a little prodding from me ) , this gorgeous MK I chambered in 45 win Mag ..... it also came with a 45 ACP conversion kit ( that was obviously used more than the original chambering ) .....

I know that this " plum " colored frame topic has been brought up in the past : click on me , but I'm seeking clarity regarding the finish ( how , why , how many )

As the attached older post specifies , this pistol was one of the first to come out of the factory as evidenced by the serial number ( under 200 ) . It was made - according to L.A.R. , in 1984 .

Some folks may consider the plum hue to be a flaw ( as stated in the older post ) , but I've got to say that it has one of the nicest contrasts of all the finishes offered by L.A.R.

Also , the 2 magazines that came with the pistol are welded on the bottom as opposed to the spring loaded ball detent design ..... how rare are these ? ...

My additional questions are :

( 1 ) how rare are these plum frames ?

( 2 ) do these specimens come with a premium ?

( 3 ) is the reason explaining the plum finish ( in the attached post ) valid ?

( 4 ) are the wood grips a factory offering ?

Either way , my friend owns one of the first ones off the line - and a nice one at that !


Thank you in advance Gents .......


grizzlyglen

How many Grizzlys were made ? ( all variations )

Does anyone know how many Grizzly pistols ( all models ) were produced during the 16 or so years L.A.R. manufactured the pistol ? ( rough estimate ) .

How many of each variation ?. I have heard that the MK IV and V are the rarest ... is there any truth to this information ?

I called L.A.R. recently trying to shed some light on this subject , and was told they didn’t know offhand without counting all the entries in the logbook . Also , I asked why L.A.R. doesn’t make the Grizz anymore and was told :

“ LAR discontinued making the Grizzly when the pistol manufacturers were being sued . We stopped production in order to get our company off of the lawsuit . When the lawsuit was found to be frivolous and was dropped , we started to ramp up the production once again only to find out that our liability insurance had tripled . The company decided it wasn’t worth the expense . “

So unless L.A.R. gets a lot of requests for the Grizzly , we may never see them coming off the assembly line again ….. unless the design , trademark and licenses are sold to someone who will be willing to produce this superior pistol . If this pistol does get made by a company other than L.A.R. , we may never see this pistol made to the high quality / high standards it is noted for .

Any insight on the amount produced would be helpful . -



grizzlyglen

American Rifleman " Dope Bag " Grizzly MK I review - circa 1985

Hello again Guys ,

I found another old " new " review .... this one comes from the American Rifleman magazine dated Feb. 1985 in the " Dope Bag " column ...... Be sure to click on the image to enlarge the scan for easier reading .

It seems the reviewers thought the Grizzly is " too big " - even for those with large hands ( I have large hands and feel that the Grizz feels " just right " ) , but found that the overall quality / fit & finish / function to be very good .

Enjoy .....

glizzlyglen

Grizzly MK IV 1994 Shooting Times review

Hello again gents ,


I’ve been searching around my archived firearm publications lately with a goal of finding all of the L.A.R Grizzly reviews and articles I can find …. This hasn’t been an easy task because for some reason there isn’t a lot of articles to be found . I guess L.A.R didn’t spend a lot of $$$ to advertise in the gun rags . Firearm companies always seem to get a lot more exposure within the pages when they advertise a lot - as it seems to me .

One of the first feature articles I found was in the March 1994 edition of Shooting Times . Dick Metcalf wrung out the Grizzly MK IV ( 44 magnum ) . It’s great to re-read the old “ new reviews “ …..


Please click on the images to make the scan much larger to read .

Also ,keep your eye out for more archived reviews and articles in the near future . The more I dig up , the more I will post .

Enjoy ……

grizzlyglen

Do any of you Grizzly fans like to shoot AR-15's?

I know this is a Grizzly blog... mostly because I started it :) Anyway, I like to shoot all sorts of guns and one of my favorite firearms to shoot is a high quality, super accurate AR-15. I have owned many, many AR platform rifles of all shapes, sizes and price points. I ran across the absolute best AR-15's I have ever seen a couple of years ago... They are made by Sun Devil Mfg. in Mesa Arizona. My 20 inch model will outshoot every AR I have ever owned and even some of the bench-rest bolt action rigs I have owned. I am such a big fan, that I started a blog about them as well.

If any of you are interested, please visit my Sun Devil AR-15 Blog

What is a load for 357/45 GWM?

After looking through every resource I could find on the internet I refer back to where I should have started in the first place - this blog :-).
Does anyone have experience with this cartridge, concerning load data and forming cases from 45 WM cases?
Every help appreciated.

Thanks

Ulrich

My new acquisition

Hello all ,

My first experience handling a Grizzly was in 1991 when myself and three friends walked into a gun shop in SE Connecticut and saw one chambered for 45 Win Mag with 3 complete conversion kits ( 10mm , 45 ACP , .357 Mag ) . It also came with all associated reloading dies , empty brass , bullets , etc . …… a set – up ready to go .
I don’t remember if this particular Grizzly was a MK I , II , IV , or V …… I do know that it was blued . ( does anyone know what years the II , IV and V were made ? )

I did not have the $800’ish amount in my pocket at the time and left the store with the intended items I originally went there for .

Well , I kept thinking about that Grizzly set-up for a couple of days and sleepless nights . Four days later I went back to that same shop and it had been adopted already ………….. I was bummed .


Fast forward 17 years and 5 children later to the present day , and I had another one fall into my lap . I just picked up my first LAR Grizzly and I’m as excited as a puppy discovering his reproductive organ for the first time .

As you can see , it is a MK I with a blued finish ( click on the image to see a larger photo ) . It comes with a factory muzzlebrake , a couple of extra recoil springs , a couple extra sets of recoil spring guide rods , an extra extractor , four factory magazines , Millet open sights with the orange front post , the factory bushing wrench , ( 500 ) .45 Win Mag cases – half of which are factory primed and un-used , the factory pistol box and all paperwork , and last but not least – a B-Square scope mount ….. all this for $685


A quick call to LAR I learned it was made April 8 , 1987 ……

I do have some questions …. Please excuse me if they have been asked in the past .

1) Are the grizzlys chambered in 45 Win. mag. prone to frame battering ? … I thought that I read something along those lines .
2) Where can I find replacement recoil springs ? … the stouter , the better . Wolff ?
3) How can one decipher if conversion kits are for the MK I ?


Thanks in advance …..


Glen

Hello Grizzly folks!

I promised I would tell the Grizzly community about the 9mm Luger Grizzly conversion unit, so now here is my account.

I reeceived the unit several weeks ago, but was not able to shoot it until recently.
First here is a picture of the unit compared to the normal Grizzly:


And now the unit installed:


The vendor told me that a company made them back in the 90ies and he had sold roughly 200 of them.
It is a 1911 design just lengthened to fit on the Grizzly receiver.
The finish is somehow rough, not bluing but some kind of paint or varnish.
There are no markings on the whole system except for the proof firing markings.

The magazine is just as tylergnut suggested, a 9mm mag with aluminium hunch screwed to its back..

The barrel is not as thick as the standard Grizzly barrels, so that should explain the need for a different slide.
The bushing is a normal 1911 Govt style with a brazed insert.

I was able to test different factory loads and it was reasonably accurate for my skill.
Should anyone be interested or would like to have other pictures feel free to tell me!

Thats it for now I hope I was able to show you something new!

Ulrich